Don't get trapped by
Rogue Anti-Spyware software!
A case
history by Richard Rossbauer
Recent computer
problems raised my suspicions that a hijacker or other malware
program had infiltrated its protective software.
Too many crashes and program
hang-ups were taking place to be normal. Yes, there really shouldn't
be any problems in a virus and spyware free computer.
But, who is blessed with such a pure machine?
The experts nearly all agree that upwards of 90 percent of all
computers used to visit the Internet are infected with some sort of
virus, adware, spyware or malware. And even though my startup
routine includes automatic sweeps by two different spyware sweepers
and one virus scanner, stuff could still get in.
So, I tried a new spyware remover software advertised in a recent
newsletter. This program indicated that two of the nastiest browser
hijackers in circulation and two equally nasty malwares were buried
in my Registry and 'ini' files! |
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I was dumbfounded! How did my top rated protective programs miss
them? Not only did they get by the start-up protective software, but
they apparently slipped under the gun-sights of the registry monitor
that operates in the background, and the monitor (Webroot SpySweeper)
that sweeps before shutdown.
What really aroused my suspicions was the price tag to have this new
program remove the infiltrators. It was quite high compared to the
price for registering any of the popular and highly recommended
protective anti-spyware programs, some of which will even remove spyware for
free.
Before spending that amount of money for a suspicious product, I did
a Google search for
["Name of Anti-spyware program" + Avoid]. Remove just the
[ ] when you try it.
Yes! It was shown as Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware(*) at
SpywareWarrior.com along with another 199 similarly suspicious
offerings, and advice on how to avoid being duped or robbed by False
Positive findings.
(*)"Rogue/Suspect" means that these products are of unknown,
questionable, or dubious value if used for anti-spyware protection.
Spyware Warrior is a great website to bookmark for future reference.
Here's a link: http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
These are the programs I used to confirm my suspicions. None found
the four infiltrators:
Spybot
S&D, AdAware, Xcleaner, CWSshredder,
HijackThis, AVG, and ErrorNuker.
It's possible that the Suspect anti-spyware program would have
removed them.
I wasn't going to gamble on that. It's bad enough that spyware and
adware are disabling millions of home computers. Exploiting this
epidemic with fake programs that claim to remove these pests for an
exorbitant fee, but might not, is unscrupulous and unconscionable
behavior.
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You are invited to visit the "Firewalls and Virus Protection"
website and "Security Alert News Reporter", presented to help everyday Internet
users navigate safely through the Cyber Space that has become a
'Cyber Jungle', loaded with ambushes and booby traps. Richard
Rossbauer promotes
his "Computer Security Awareness Campaign" thru his Blog and website
at
https://www.firewalls-and-virus-protection.com.
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